Are You Kidding?

Jonathan Alter, a leading Obama sycophant, appeared on a talk show recently with Washington Examiner columnist Tim Carney. The topic turned to a comment made by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who observed that Obama’s administration is “one of the most corrupt administrations ever.” Issa’s claim sent Alter into an apoplectically angry rant, saying there was “zero” evidence of corruption.

To Alter’s evident surprise, Carney immediately demurred, incredulous that Alter couldn’t see any evidence. While Carney said that Issa’s comments were “hyperbolic,” he gave a few choice illustrations, and later listed a few more on the Examiner’s website. Carney’s list included the following:

1. Ex-Google lobbyist Andrew McLaughlin, employed by the White House as a tech policy specialist, chatting with Google lobbyists about the rules governing “Net Neutrality,” from which Google stands to gain. (Carney’s blog doesn’t mention it, but Google gave lavishly to the Obama campaign.)

2. A former Goldman Sachs lobbyist took the job of the Treasury Department’s Chief of Staff within nine months of his Goldman employment. (Again, we can add that upper-level management at Goldman Sachs was a big contributor to Obama’s coffers.)

3. Former H&R Block CEO Mark Ernst was hired by Obama to help the IRS write new regulations on tax preparation (which Block subsequently endorsed, because it stands to benefit from them).

4. Obama officials have met “off-campus” repeatedly in order to dodge the Presidential Records Act.

6. In the Obama-orchestrated Chrysler bankruptcy, the UAW was given the bulk of the stock in the new company (while the secured creditors were burned). Naturally, the UAW was a big contributor to Obama’s campaign.

As good as Carney’s list is, it only scratches the surface. Here are a few more illustrations:

7. Besides the crony bankruptcy deal that gave the bulk of the stock in the new company to the UAW, there was a similar deal that gave a big chunk of the new GM stock to the UAW.

8. Moreover, in the recent IPO, the feds held onto the public’s shares while the UAW was allowed to dump its own. This ensured that the UAW pension fund would be made whole.

9. ACORN, the bogus “community service” group for which Obama was counsel and which worked so hard to register voters (even fictional ones) on Obama’s behalf, received lavish amounts of “stimulus” money.

10. When Obama was campaigning for Democrats in the last election, he doled out stimulus money in the states he visited (especially Nevada). Indeed, the stimulus fund was a grab-bag of cash for Obama’s backers. A disproportionate share of the money was spent in precisely those states that supported Obama.

As to whether Issa’s statement was “hyperbolic,” I don’t think so. The Obama administration has racked up a lot of corruption in its two years in office. If it isn’t one of the most corrupt administrations in history, it is surely on track to become so.

About this Author

Gary Jason is an academic philosopher and a senior editor of Liberty. His recent books, Disturbing Thoughts: Unorthodox Writings on Timely Issues and Philosophic Thoughts: Essays on Logic and Philosophy are both available through Amazon.